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Archipelago Experiment/1st Time Up

So I've been playing around with GIMP for the first time recently, and I stumbled across RobA's GIMP tutorial (the pdf, not the thread). Since I've been trying to make a decent archipelago map for some time, I thought it would be worth giving it a go. I'm not sure I've really done the mountains right, I couldn't figure out deserts (not that they would really be appropriate at this scale), and I'm not enthralled with the color/density of forests or the color of the rivers. But otherwise, I think it turned out good for a first time!

I have little to no experience with GIMP or PS, so pretty much everything here was done by following the tutorial to the letter. I'm not a huge fan of the text tool in GIMP, and I gave up pretty quickly there, since I have plenty of other things to work on. So any explanation of actual software processes might have to be dumbed down a bit so I can understand them

I like this map... for a first map I think you did a great job, my first map did not look half as good as yours. I would encourage you to keep working and adding character and depth into your maps. The Guild is a great place to learn so it's good that you found your way here! I use photoshop so I can't give you any pointers for GIMP, sorry. I can't wait to see more of your work.

What's interesting about the sizing is that it was originally a 2000x2000px file, which I resized to 500x500 for it's original upload. The quality stayed good, but then when I tried to blow that back up, it didn't work. Unfortunately, I don't have the original large version (silly of me to not save it), but hopefully the next time round it'll make things better to keep it.

Bitmap programs like GIMP scale down fine, but they look blurry and pixelated when you try to expand your size. It can be done, and done well, if you use a finishing tool like bumpmaping or WILBUR to add some texture, but even that has its limits. If you want a map you can truly scale up or down with impunity, try a vector program like Inkspace.

If you're motivated and have some time, Arsheesh's Eriond tutorial is one of the best out there for a realistic, quality map made in GIMP. If you look through my profile, you'll see several maps I've made using that approach.